Gods and Demigods: The Lightning Thief
by Megan Hermione Lovegood
Summary: I'm Fern. I'm a God, and I'm the founder of Camp Half-Blood, where Chiron and I train all Demigods. This is the one where I meet Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, who has been wrongly accused of theft. I must go on a quest with him and my friends Annabeth and Grover to recover Zeus' stolen lightning bolt before it's too late. And believe me, it only gets weirder from here. (1/5)
1. Me, a God? Yeah, right

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Percy Jackson. If I did, I would never have written Zoë Nightshade into existance, and I would treat Nico like the awesome guy he is.**_

Demigods. Half-Bloods. Half mortal, half god.

There are a lot of names for them; those ones just mentioned, and the more, shall we say, _offensive_ terms, such as "total freak".

Now, we are not total freaks. We simply have unfortunate parentage.

Me, for instance. I'm a demigod, half-blood, whatever you want to call it. I prefer half-blood though. Don't really know why, it just sounds better in my head.

Well, I'm not sure if I still count as a half-blood, as they are half mortal, half god. I was born half mortal, granted, but I'm full blooded god now. I'll get to that later, though. There are more important issues at hand, like making sure you lot know what in the name of Hades I'm babbling on about.

Anyway, I'm Fern Woodley, daughter of Demeter and mortal Aethon Woodley. Unlike most of my half - siblings, I inherited my fathers traits instead of my mothers; I have short auburn hair, green eyes and the kind of elvish, mischevious face that generally makes people think I'm untrustworthy.

I was born in ... actually, when _was _I born? Gods, I can't even remember my own birthday. Of course, it _was _about two thousand years ago, so I suppose I can be forgiven on those grounds, but _still._

You're confused; I can tell. I don't blame you, really. It happens a lot. But, well, hopefully this shall clear most of it up for you.

See, my father and I didn't have much money. We were eventually kicked out of our home, and Father was forced to abandon me. I honestly don't blame him. It would have been hard to look after a normal eight-year-old under those circumstances, let alone a demigod whose blood was hunted by monsters.

So, after that, I raised myself. I had a present from my mother; a celestial bronze sword. It had the symbol of Demeter on it, and also a curse; anyone who attempted to use it without my permission would perish. I basically fought off monster after monster for about five years. Sure, it wasn't the best life, but it wasn't the worst, either.

That was when all the trouble started.

You probably don't know about the war. Oh, I'm not talking about the big Gods vs Titans fight; that was aeons, practically, before my time. No, this is a war that only people that were there at the time know about. And I'll tell you something; there aren't very many of them left.

I guess it all really started when the world was divided by the Big Three. As you know, Zeus got the sky, Poseidon got the sea, and Hades got the Underworld. You probably also know that Hades wasn't too happy about this.

He'd always wanted the sky, you see, but unfortunately for him, Zeus wanted it, too. And if Zeus wants something, he tends to get it.

So, the story is known. Hades, the poor guy, drew the short straw and got the Underworld. Now, for the part you don't know.

Hades resented Zeus for forcing him down into the horrible abyss that is the Underworld. As such, he spent a couple hundred years brooding over revenge, and finally came to a solution: ATTACK.

He gathered up an army of the dead, and set to attack Olympus. Of course, it was all the gods against him; I'm surprised the war lasted as long as it did. But then again, there are a _lot _of the dead. And it's not like they can die again.

The gods, seeing this, panicked. They summoned all the half-bloods they could, including me. They got the son of Kronos, Chiron the Centaur, to quickly train us for battle. We didn't need much of it, as we'd spent our entire lives fighting monsters. We had enough experince already.

Then, it was time for the battle.

I'll never forget it. I lost a great number of my friends that day. In fact, there were only three half-bloods left standing afterwards; Me, Ariana, daughter of Athena, and Cyrus, son of Zeus. But, the fallen half-bloods had dies a heroes death, and Hades' army was destroyed.

Hades himself had been captured, I saw, as me and the remaining half-bloods walked into the Olympus throne room. He was bound in glowing golden chains at Zeus' feet.

'Kneel.' was the first word Zeus said to us. We did so, wondering what would happen to us. It wasn't likely we would be killed, but then again, the gods are unpredictable.

'This war was tragic.' said Zeus. 'We lost a great number of innocent demigods, as they were not given proper training.'

'M - my Lord,' I stammered, 'Chiron did his best, My Lord, he simply didn't have the time - '

Zeus waved away my explanation. 'I know, Fern Woodley. I am not going to punish Chiron. I called you here, Fern, because Chiron shared with me an idea you had. Poseidon?'

Poseidon held up a blueprint, magically magnified to the size of a car so he could hold it comfortably. I recognized my print on it, and the drawing of the camp. I blushed scarlet, flattered that the Gods had acknowledged my idea.

'Yes,' Poseidon said, noticing the look on my face. 'Camp Half-Blood. The idea you had. Personally, I love it.'

'As do I.' said Zeus.

'Me as well.' said Demeter. 'You are a good stratagist, my daughter.'

'T - thank you, Mother.' I stammered again, very pleased now.

'We discussed it,' continued Zeus, 'And we are unanimous in our decision to start this camp.'

A wide grin split across my face. 'Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!' I cried. 'I won't let you down, I swear!'

'We know you won't.' said Apollo. 'I foresaw it.'

'Quiet, brother.' snapped Artemis, turning her gaze towards me. If the piercing glare she gave me was anything to go by, I sensed she didn't like me very much.

'But there is another matter.' said Zeus. 'You see, you are a mortal. You would probably not be up to leading a training camp within forty or so years. Which, is why we offer you a gift.'

'A gift, Lord Zeus?' I asked.

'A gift.' Zeus repeated. 'We shall make you a goddess.'

My jaw dropped. I turned to look at Ariana and Cyrus, wondering if they had heard what I had just heard. Their mouths were hanging open, too, which indicated I was not going crazy.

'A - a goddess? _Me?' _I asked, wondering if this was a joke.

'Yes, Fern Woodley. You.' said Zeus, now smirking a little bit. 'You shall become immortal, meaning you shall train all half-bloods that make it to the camp for eternity - no worries about you dying. You shall also have the powers of a God; you shall have a throne on Olympus, be able to change form, and you shall keep your powers over nature, but they shall be stronger.

'We also grant you one special ability of your choice.' he concluded. 'Choose anything you like.'

'Flight.' I said immediately. I had always wanted to be able to fly like a bird; it looked so easy, so effortless, so _free._

'Flight.' Demeter repeated. 'So be it. Fern Juniper Woodley, we, the Greek Gods of Olympus, grant you a goddess of Olympus.'

Nothing happened for a long moment. I was about to open my mouth and ask what was wrong, but my words were replaced by a scream of agony when I felt a burning sensation in the pit of my stomach, which spread quickly throughout my body like fire.

Suddenly, my skin began to glow gold. It started on my face, then spread down my body until I was covered by a blinding golden light. I let out one more scream as the glowing engulfed me completely, and the whole world turned black.

I awoke on the cold marble floor of the throne room, Ariana and Cyrus looking down on me with concern.

'Is that it?' I asked, without getting up. 'Am I a goddess?'

'Rise.' Zeus said.

I climbed shakily to my feet. I didn't feel any different, except my knees seemed to have turned to that disgusting wobbly children's dessert. What's it called? Jell-O or something?

The gods, Cyrus and Ariana bowed down to me; even Hades gave a small nod. A cry echoed through the throne room, reverberating a hundred times off the walls and ceiling.

'All hail Fern Woodley, goddess of life!'


	2. Can't a God get any peace around here?

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Percy Jackson. If I did, I would never have written Zoë Nightshade into existance, and I would treat Nico like the awesome guy he is.**_

Well, you know what happened. The camp was built, and for millenia, Chiron and I trained half-blood after half-blood. It was a beautiful camp - there was a parthenon, an arena, a strawberry field, and a pavillion where the nymphs prepared lunch.

Then, there were the cabins.

There were thirteen in all - one dedicated to each God. There was one for Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysous, Ares, Athena, Demeter, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, and myself. Those who were unclaimed went to the Hermes cabin.

'So,' Chiron asked me once the camp was finally finished. 'How is it? Being a god?'

I sighed, looking up from my book on war tactics. 'It is strange, Chiron.' I said. 'Of course, I am grateful, and I do enjoy it, but even so. It will take a lot of getting used to.'

As if to prove a point, I pulled a blade from a practise dummy and dragged it across my palm. Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, oozed from the wound. Immediately, I pressed my hand to a tree, and the leaves wrapped around it, healing the cut instantly.

'One thing I will not get used to, though, is having gold blood.'

Chiron chuckled. 'Yes, I can see why that would be hard to get used to. Speaking of which, have you flown yet?'

I bit my lip. 'Um, yes,'

'Would you mind demonstrating?'

I groaned inwardly. I had so hoped he would not ask this of me. The last thing I wanted to do was make a scene. Sighing, I closed my eyes and concentrated. Immediately, I felt the sharp tug at my shoulder blades, and then the warm weight of the feathered wings as they brushed the backs of my knees.

I opened one eye anxiously, expecting Chiron to be shocked, even scared. However, he simply looked mildly curious.

'How do they work?' he asked.

'Easily enough - I simply will them to flap, and they do so.' I replied, demonstrating. The wings began to move rapidly, raising me a few inches off the ground. But suddenly, an arrow whizzed close to my head, and I fell over from shock, landing on my behind in the dirt.

_'Erre es korakas!' _I shouted in greek at the grinning Cyrus, who was stil pointing another arrow at me. _'Bacchus Meas Vescimini, _Cyrus Gooddale!'

'Oh, what are you going to do?' Cyrus asked me, grinning cheekily. 'Vaporize me?'

'She could do that, you know,' Chiron said to Cyrus cheerfully.

To prove him right, I grabbed my own bow and Cyrus's arrow, took aim, and fired. He yelped and dived out of the way just in time as the arrow pierced the tree trunk where his head had been moments before.

_'Vlacas,' _he muttered, skulking away.

'And the same to you, good sir!' I called after him. 'Oh, and tell the other campers that dinner is in half an hour!'

Life went on in the camp. Demigods came and went. We trained. Demigods died. We trained. It did start to get a little tedious after a while, but I still wouldn't have traded it for anything.

After a while, I started to have half-blood children of my own. It wasn't as weird as you would think, because while I may have been thirteen when I was transformed, I waited until I was mentally thirty before I had kids. And besides, I could shift my form - if you saw me, you'd probably think I was in my early twenties.

Overall, I've had maybe fifteen children, which isn't too bad, considering how I've been here for over two thousand years. They were all girls, though. While I did love my daughters, I had always wanted a boy. I had almost given up hope of having a son, when I finally had a little boy with an Irish man, Michael O'Neill. I was so happy. I haven't had any children since - after the birth of my son, Mikey, I felt like my little family was complete.

But then, the trouble started.

Centuries after my transformation, I was patrolling the camp, like always.

'Great swordfighting, Jennifer!' 'No, Alex, see, you do it like _this.' _'Keep climbing, Angie! Don't fall into the lava!'

I shook my head, chuckling, as I walked up to Mikey. He was seven at this point - a thin, wirey lad with my hair and eyes, but with his father's rougish, Irish accent. He was a lovely kid, forever cracking jokes. It was hard not to smile in the prescence of Mikey Woodley.

I know it's not right to pick favourites out of your own children, but I just can't help it where Mikey's concerned. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my daughters, too, but I don't feel as close to them as I do with Mikey.

I have four girls still living - Christina, Avery, Chloe, and Alexandra.

Christina is sixteen, a brilliant archer and a feminist. If it weren't for the fact that Artemis and I are rivals, she probably would have joined the hunters.

Then there's the identical twins, Avery and Chloe. They are both fourteen, and for once, they take after their father instead of me - they have his pale blond hair and chocolate brown eyes. They are brilliant at chariot racing, and were devestated when I was forced to stop it after the death toll mounted high.

Bringing up the rear of my girls is thirteen year old Alexandra. She's completely girly and is not a fan of sports - still, give her a sword and she'll fight well with it.

'Mikey,' I laughed, watching as my son tried and failed to shoot a bow. It floated off in the wrong direction and landed in the branches of a tree. 'You look ridiculous, son.'

He looked at me huffily, and for a second I was reminded of Cyrus. 'Thanks, Mom.' he said, pouting.

I took the bow from him and aimed correctly at the bulls-eye painted on the target. It should have hit the dot, but the arrow intead veered of course and joined Mikey's arrow in the branches of the tree.

_'Erre es korakas,_ Artemis,' I muttered. Artemis had hated me on first sight, and I didn't even know why, I had responded to this with just as much venom, and our rivalry eventually built up into a hatred.

Suddenly, Grover Underwood, one of our new protectors, trotted up to me, panting.

'Fern!' he gasped. 'New - half-blood - Thalia - monsters - food!'

'Grover!' I exclaimed. 'Calm down, you're not making sense!'

He leaned on my shoulder, panting. When he regained his breath, he gasped out, 'I ran all the way here, sorry. We've found a new Half-Blood, Thalia Grace.'

'Well, what's the problem?' I asked. 'Just bring her here.'

'It's not that simple.' Grover said, his face grave. 'She's not just any Half-Blood. She's a daughter of Zeus.'

My jaw dropped. 'But - the pact - he swore on the River Styx!'

'I know, Fern,' said Grover. 'That's what worries me. She's so powerful, and Hades has sent monster after monster on her tail.'

I narrowed my eyes. 'Don't worry, Grover. In emergency cases like this, I help the satyrs. Chiron and Mr D can look after camp. You should get some rest; we leave tomorrow.'

I turned to Mikey. 'In the meantime,' I said to him. 'Mikey, fetch Chiron, will you? I think we need to have a little meeting with Zeus.'


End file.
